Ooooooh! My first ever fanfic! Exciting. Anyway. It's slightly strange but please R+R!
Disclaimer: Anything you might recognize from the Alpha Force books belongs to Chris Ryan. Not me. Even the plot doesn't really belong to me because it's based on the beginning of Rat Catcher.
It was midnight. The darkness seeped through the forest and covered the surroundings. There were no lights. It was silent too. The only noises that could be heard came from the undergrowth. Small rustles that indicated the forest's night life was about. Spread out through the forest, five teenagers were waiting. Waiting to spring their trap.
Amber pulled her night-vision goggles off and dropped them on the floor in front of her. She shuddered as she heard a twig crack behind her. Why was it so important to do this now? It was cold and damp. She silently cursed Alex for his 'brilliant' idea. She pulled her sleek black jacket closer around her and glanced at her plain dark wristwatch. Two minutes past midnight. She sighed, grabbed her night-vision goggles from the floor and slapped them back on her head.
Alex remained crouched behind the tree. All he had to do was wait. Wait for Hex to crack the code. He shuffled around a bit, trying to keep quiet. Alex would admit that it was uncomfortable, but he knew that it was necessary. It had to be tonight. The assassin would come tonight.
Li was going through her plan that she was going to use when Hex finally cracked the code and they could break in to the assassin's base. She already knew from past experience that there would be pressure pads, or at least a tricky alarm system only the likes of Hex would be able to work out. She was certain that there would be invisible laser beams, waiting to trap any unwanted visitors in with their automatic alarm system. Li and Hex had already planned how they would combine their skills to make sure that the other members of Alpha Force could pass through safely.
On the other side of the forest, Paulo was keeping his beady eyes fixed on the still silhouette in the distance. Alex had given him the job of watching Hex's every move, and Paulo was glad to have something to do rather than sit and wait until the signal came. Paulo yawned and rubbed his eyes. It was far too late for his liking. He willed Hex on in his head, trying to send him a telepathic message telling him to hurry up. As if Hex had read his mind, Paulo was suddenly blinded by a flashing light. The signal. It was time to go.
"You took your time," Hex grinned wickedly as Amber, Li, Paulo and Alex finally arrived outside the assassin's base, panting heavily.
"Ha ha, Hex," said Amber sarcastically, rolling her eyes at him. "Very funny. I'm laughing so much."
"I'm so glad you liked my little joke," smirked Hex, returning the eye-roll.
"Anyway," Alex interrupted, trying to avoid the start of World War Three, "we saw your signal. I assume that means you have good news."
"Of course. I cracked the code," boasted Hex smugly.
After a quick team huddle, Hex tapped in a code on the control pad outside the door. He pushed the well-polished brass handle and the door swung open with ease. Just as the team were about to rush inside, Li held out her arm and stopped them.
"Wait!"she said, a wild look in her eyes "Remember when we broke into the military base on the practice mission Amber's uncle set up for us?"
The team nodded.
"There were pressure pads under the door mat!" Li finished.
"Good thinking, Li" Alex congratulated her as they all watched Hex carefully peeled back the door mat.
"De ja vu," muttered Hex, as he revealed four small pressure pads carefully placed beneath the mat.
The team carefully stepped around the pressure pads and into the main part of the base. Amber quickly made a mental note of her surroundings. The pitch black walls made the atmosphere dark and gloomy. The only shred of light that the team had was coming from the small, dim lamps which were hanging from the ceiling. A disgusting stench was wafting up Amber's nose; it was like sweat mixed with…blood.
"Stay here," Hex whispered, rummaging in his rucksack, "No-one move a muscle."
Hex found what he was looking for and pulled it out of his rucksack.
"Fixative spray?" Amber questioned, raising her eyebrows.
"It contains a chemical that will reveal any laser lines," Li explained, "Clever, hm?"
Hex shook the can and pressed his finger down on the spray-release. Immediately about thirty long red lines, lasers presumably, were revealed.
"Can you do it, Li?" Alex asked anxiously, "It looks tough."
"Maybe I should…" Paulo trailed off as Li glared at him.
"Guys, relax," Li sighed. "Who here abseiled a massive rock-face at a dangerous speed with no ropes whilst being chased by modern-day pirates?"
"You, Li," Alex muttered quietly while Paulo just nodded.
"Precisely," said Li, before twisting her long, black, silky hair into a knot on top of her head and pulling on a camouflage cream hat.
Li expertly twisted and turned through the lasers, bending into near-impossible shapes. When she reached the end she turned back and grinned at the rest of Alpha Force.
"Easy peasy," she smiled.
"So, code-boy, what now?" asked Amber, using the nickname she'd given Hex long, long ago.
Hex gave Amber a sarcastic, withering look and then turned back to Li.
"OK, Li. You see the switch unit to your left?" he began.
Li looked around and then replied "Yup."
"I want you to tap the screen and tell me what happens."
Li did as she was told. The system told her to enter a valid username and password. "This'll be great for you, code-boy. I need a username and password."
"Easy. Try 'assassin' for username and 'password' for password."
"It says it's invalid," said Li when she had done this.
"Ah. OK then. If he wants to play it like that then try 'killer' as a username and 'password' again as a password.
"Okey-dokey," Li grinned before tapping it into the system. "Yes! It worked!"
"Honestly, such a basic mistake." Hex muttered.
"What now?" asked Li "Should I press 'disable lasers and tripwires'?"
"What do you think?" muttered Hex sarcastically "On one hand, you could disable the traps and let us all pass through safely. On the other hand however, you could press exit and get us discovered. Hmmm. Tricky."
"Yeah, yeah" Li rolled her eyes as she disabled the trip system.
When the lasers disappeared, the rest of the team hurried to join Li.
"Now all we have to do is wait for the assassin to show up," Alex whispered.
"Easy peasy," grinned Alpha Force in unison.